


Gabriel Shouldn't Read Harry Potter

by iconicSammy (Spotedleaf5)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Baby Gabriel, Babysitting, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-12 17:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1193925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spotedleaf5/pseuds/iconicSammy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the fic request I took on my birthday on tumblr, "Little kid Gabriel being watched by Team Free Will."</p><p>Edited 01.09.18</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In the Beginning...

It was a lazy late summers’ day where the sun shone down on yellowing leaves.  Our scene finds one Bobby Singer leafing through lore books on his back porch.

It was by all accounts a calm day.  A couple of hunters had called in reports of chimeras infesting a town in southern California, a newbie had needed Bobby to talk him through an exorcism, and Jody had been over for a few hours cross referencing methods of hunting banshees.

Bobby’s phone rang, pulling up the caller ID of one of the Winchesters’ aliases.  He answered to a dead line.

 _I’m sure it was nothing important_ , Bobby thought to himself.

Everything had been pleasant and slow until two Winchesters popped into existence a mere 10 feet away.

“Son of a bitch,” Bobby and Dean said in unison.

“Give an old man some warning.”

“Bobby?”

“Do I look like Martha Stewart?”

Dean snapped his phone shut.

Upon further review, there was a new addition to the group.

“Where’d the hell you two get a baby,” Bobby asked.

“If I told you it’s a long story, that’d be an understatement.”

Sam handed the child off to Dean and joined Bobby on the porch.  Dean, with the skill of a man who’d raised a boy himself, shushed the baby who was beginning to fuss.

“Bobby, all I know is this is some Harry Potter level bullshit.”

“There was a knock at our hotel room,” Sam filled in, “I went outside and found this little guy sitting on the concrete, butt naked, screaming.”

“Did you test him?”

“Not a shapeshifter, not a ghost, not a demon,” Dean confirmed.

“And you felt indebted to not take this boy to an orphanage?”

“Didn’t get the chance, we dialed your number and then suddenly we weren’t in our hotel room anymore, and I think you know the rest,” Dean explained.

“Well for god’s sake, don’t just stand there.  If it’s nothing obvious, it’s time to call in the big guns.”

“Cas is at war in heaven, good luck getting a hold of him,” Sam grumbled, fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt.

“Worth a try I guess,” Dean handed the baby off to Bobby.

“Might as well get some clothes on this boy, want to help me out, Sam?”

Dean sighed in relief once Bobby and Sam went inside.  Praying in front of people always made him nervous.

“Alright, Cas, we could really use some help down here.”

…and… nothing. 

“Castiel is at war, what do you require assistance with?”

“Who are you?”

“I am Anafiel.”  
  
“Well, see, I really needed to talk to Cas.”

“I assure you, I can be of service.”

Call it mother hen syndrome, but Dean didn’t feel 100% sure about letting an average angel meet this kid.  By all accounts he appeared human, and Dean knew first hand that angels lacked the basic social skill of compassion.

“Sure, come on in,” Dean said reluctantly, leading the angel into Bobby’s house.

“Anafiel; Bobby, Sam,” Dean made the introductions

“Where’s Cas?”  
  
“At war,” Anafiel quickly answered.  “So, what seems to be the problem?”  
  
“We need a species check on the infant,” Sam replied curtly. 

The angel approached, but, upon touching the boy, vanished.

“Oh, boy,” Bobby sighed.

“You know what this is,” Dean asked.

“Hardly.  All I know is that if this thing can vanish angels, it’s bad.”

“What are we going to do, abandon him?  He’s just a kid,” Dean defended.

“We don’t know the scope of what this thing can do,” Bobby objected, settling down on the couch with his lore book.

“Alright, I say we throw him in the bunker until Cas can get away from the war,” Sam suggested.

“In the meantime, someone should get some diapers.”  
  
It _was_ beginning to stink.

“Son of a bitch.” 

“You two pick up supplies, I’ll watch the tyke.”

“You sure Bobby?  If this kid can send angels away, it’s probably bad news.”

“Don’t worry so much, just get back quick.

 

 


	2. Vessel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby shopping ensues, a visit from Cas, all this in this chapter of Gabriel Shouldn't Read Harry Potter

It was a short drive in one of Bobby’s rust buckets, but without the Impala, choices were scarce.

“I hope my baby’s doing okay,” Dean worried, picking at his nails.

“Dude, it’s a car,” Sam replied.  Objectively he could see why Dean loved the car so much; it was a memento of their dad and it was, objectively, a beautiful car.  Subjectively, though, Dean’s obsession with it drove Sam a little crazy.

At the Walmart, Dean and Sam were getting some odd looks

"Dean, I'm telling you, it doesn't matter if it's black or green, let's just grab the stuff and get out of here." Sam was getting uneasy, two men wearing boots and large jackets in Walmart was odd enough, let alone in the children's section.

Dean wasn't listening. He pulled through the miniature outfits on the rack until he found a green one in the baby’s estimated size. Nodding with satisfaction, he put it in the cart and they moved into the next aisle.

"What do you think three year olds eat?" Dean's open ended question drew the attention of a wrinkly old woman.

"Pardon me, dearie, but I couldn't help but overhear. A three year old is not a baby," she glanced at the bottles and formula in the cart, "so you can get rid of those. They eat mostly what anyone eats, but smaller amounts," she smiled kindly at them.

"Thank you," Sam replied.

"Oh, you're quite welcome, I understand it's hard to raise a family, especially when you're both men and new to adoption, it's the least I could do."

"Right, well thank you," Dean smiled uncomfortably as they parted ways. They made a hasty exit after that.

As they drove back, Dean prayed Cas would show up.  Having a child that could manipulate space was quite the flight risk, and he already felt a sense of loyalty to the kid.  Sure, he was concerned about what the boy could do, but he was just a kid at the end of the day.

Once at Bobby’s, Dean deposited the groceries.  Sam joined Bobby in reading up on lore.  Everything was going fine until the baby’s cries became audible from the bunker.

“I’ll just go check on him,” Dean volunteered, anxious to be more productive.  He’d never been big on reading the way Sam and Bobby were.

“Alright, just be careful.”

As he walked down the stairs he imagined a lackluster prayer to Cas.

_O’ Castiel, angel of the lord, I need you to get your feathery ass down here, it’s kind of an emergency in your department of expertise._

“Dean.”  
  
“Cas, thank god, I got a problem for you.”

“The child?”

“You knew?  Why didn’t you show up then?”  
  
“I promise, Anafiel was more than qualified to make the diagnosis.”  
  
“And when he vanished?  You didn’t think that was the time to show up?”  
  
“I am at war, Dean, a point I think you cannot comprehend or choose to forget.”  
  
“So why are you here now, then, if you’re so busy?”  
  
“Because you called.”

Dean passed through the bunker door, past the angel warding to grab the baby.  He gingerly handed him to Cas, who, upon touching the baby, went into a trance of sorts.

“This child is not who you think he is.  I can’t believe…  It’s not possible.”

“What, Cas, what?"

“I am currently holding the archangel, Gabriel.”  
  
“No way, he was toast after Elysium.”

“No, he did not turn into any bread product, he is alive and well.”

“Right, but, never mind.  So, what’s the deal?  Is this his latest prank?”

“I do not believe this was intentional.  His grace is dim, it does not throb with life the way mine or Anafiel’s would.”  
  
“So, why doesn’t he turn himself into an adult?  I can’t imagine it’s very dignified for an archangel to not be in control of his bowels.”

“His grace is weak, it’s possible that it’s not even awakened.”

“How do we know this isn’t another one of his tricks?”

“Liked you said, Dean, it is not terribly dignifying to be a child, I cannot imagine him choosing this form.”  
  
“So, what, are we stuck raising him now?”

“What you will be raising is not the angel you’ve come to know.  He is not possessing this human, rather, he seems to have made himself a vessel, much like the way he became Loki.”

“Cas—“

“I’m truly sorry, Dean, but the war needs me.  Take care of this child and I’m not sure you’ll be rewarded, but it is necessary.  Gabriel could be a great tool in this war.”

And with that, Cas vanished.

_Huh, a great tool for the war.  It seemed that these days Cas wasn’t above abusing the power of others.  Not that Dean minded terribly when it came to Gabriel, but, if he remained as powerful a child as he had shown to be, Dean was afraid Cas might not care about his age when sending him to war._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not terribly proud of this, but excited to be writing again


	3. A Weapon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time, featuring paternal, nostalgic Dean

"Do you think he did it on purpose?"

"We don't know," Dean took a sip of his beer and leaned back into the chair.

"So Cas finally found time for us,” Sam snorted.

“Give him a break, he is at war.”  Dean turned his attention to his brother. “Did you find anything?”

"No," Sam said defensively.

"No need to be so sensitive," Dean chided.

"It'd help if you didn't ask me every five minutes!"

“I just thought that maybe now that we have some idea of what’s going on, that maybe, just maybe, you would’ve been able to figure out what kind of angel bullshit this is.”

Bobby huffed in amusement in the background.

"What?" Dean asked accusingly.

"You two are worse than an old married couple."

"He zapped us here just because we talked about you! We need to figure this out before he does something really crazy," Dean reminded him.

"Well, unless he talks to us, we're not getting anywhere. I've ruled out his vessel being de-aged because it seems like his cognitive ability has been affected too. But he's an angel, Dean, an archangel, I don't think he'd want this," Sam said sincerely.

"What if this is some sick, twisted lesson he's trying to force on us? What about mystery spot?"

"Well Cas said that angels don't need to sleep or eat, and I'm guessing if they don't eat, they don't produce waste. Whatever he is now, it's not an angel," Sam saw Dean wince at the reminder that, yes, this was most definitely a child that was most definitely sleeping not twenty feet from them. A child that had already decided toilets were not worth his time.

"He's not going to sleep forever," Bobby interjected. "Maybe you should think about finding a solution before the inevitable happens."

"Okay, deaged vessel ruled out, he could just be drained of power." Dean frowned at that so Sam continued, "He's proved he can change the appearance of his vessel, but what if it's always changed. He could be possessing a child and just make it look like an adult," Sam suggested.

“Cas seemed to think he’d built this vessel himself.  Plus, who would choose to be that small?”

Gabriel must have heard that because he did stir in his sleep and a blanket appeared on top of him. He curled into it and resumed his deep breathing.

"Dammit, why'd you have to bring it here?" Bobby grumbled.

"Where else would we go? We can't just take him to hotels and shit," Dean defended. Bobby left the room, he didn't mention where he was headed.

“So, what, you think it’s a good idea to camp out at Bobby’s until he grows up?  Dean, that could be years and years from now, what about hunting, there’s no excuse to not be on the road.  Monsters aren’t going to just up and die without something to kill them.”

“True, true, but, hear me out,” Dean checked to see that he was sleeping, “Having Gabriel in our debt means a lot, Sam.”  
  
“It’s not like he’ll honor it.”

“But Cas will.  Face it, he’s losing the war, Gabriel is their secret weapon, we just have to raise him until he’s cognitively able to fight.  I’m sure he wants to,” Dean added, searching the child’s face to see if he was listening in.  His breathing was regular and quiet, so he assumed the boy was asleep.

“I’m just saying, you might be down to play parent, but I’m not.”

 _Fine_ , Dean thought to himself, _Sam’s last comment stung.  It had been so long since Sam was a little boy and Dean was nostalgic._


	4. Trouble in Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whoo today we tried breaks and made a longer chapter

"Cas, I need you," Sam yelled. He heard the ruffle of feathers and wasted no time shoving the child into the angel's arms.

"I'm a warrior of God, Sam, I have other things to be doing."

"Of course," Sam nodded profusely. "Dean's helping a hunter about 60 miles from here, it should be a one day job-"

"So you need me to retrieve your brother," Cas frowned, unimpressed.

"No, no! In fact I'd prefer he never know of this, but do you think you could..." he gestured to the crying child. Cas touched the infant's forehead and the room fell into silence.

"I am busy, Sam, please don't call again unless it is an emergency."

"Of course."

He heard the trademark wing rustle which faded into a consuming silence. He sighed and fell back into the couch.

 

* * *

 

"He's crying, why is he crying!?" Dean was practically ripping his hair out.

"We just fed him like 20 minutes ago!" Sam comisserated.

"Where the Hell is Bobby?" Dean asked. He felt bad imposing on Bobby's hospitality, they hadn't seen much of him since they'd arrived and Dean hadn't wanted to push him out of his own house, but where else was there to go?

"He went out for more beer earlier," Sam informed him was he desperately tried to quiet the child.

So far Gabriel hadn't talked, he woke up crying and was rocked to sleep crying. He was physically old enough to talk, maybe development worked differently for archangels?

"Okay, maybe he's bored. Go pull up a movie or something from youtube," Dean said as he took Gabriel into his arms.

Sam did as he was asked and searched for something suitable for a child. He doubted Gabriel would care what they watched but he still had grievances showing violence to a child.

"Hey, Dean, so this one," Sam began as he walked into the room only to be hushed by Dean.

"What did you do?" Sam whispered in frustration and awe. Dean just shook his head and motioned for Sam to leave before he disturbed Gabriel.

* * *

 

Things with Gabriel got better. He had meals eight times a day, smaller portions and frequent eating were supposedly better for him. Sam would go out to acquire food since neither brother possessed much proficiency in the kitchen. After meals they'd play a game of how-many-things-can-Gabriel-make-appear-out-of-nowhere. Gabriel was, unsurprisingly, the winner everytime. Then later Dean would somehow get Gabriel to quiet down and fall asleep.

He'd spoken his first word and it was repeated with vigor afterwards. Sam had been trying to feed him vegetables for dinner and Gabriel had crossed his arms and said no. It was his new favorite word.

He didn't speak much beyond that, though, still communicating like an infant. It was endearing at best and rage inducing at worst. But overall things were going well, Dean really enjoyed taking care of Gabriel, and Gabriel seemed to enjoy being taken care of by the older Winchester, much to Sam's chagrin. Being liked by a three year old wasn't a big deal until a three year old didn't like you. Bobby wasn't around much, he went on a hunt with Rufus, obviously not suited to being a babysitter. But things were getting pretty settled overall, which is why everything had to go to shit again.

"This is not the Gabriel I knew."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for me to pass the fuck out. 4 chapters in one night is a bit much. Hopefully more to come tomorrow, I've been quite busy at work lately, though, so who knows?

**Author's Note:**

> Updated AN: I decided to nitpick and edit this into something I'm actually proud of, lmao good luck @me
> 
> AN: Originally posted on tumblr for the fic request I got for my birthday. It was fun to write so I thought I'd upload it here too! I promise I'll update Just Another Day in the Cage soo! Disclaimer: I don't know anything about parenting so I made stuff up. This turned out longer than I thought it would be, hope you enjoyed!


End file.
